CITY MANAGER’S REPORT

Week ending October 9, 2009

Economic Barometer

The second quarter Economic Barometer was released on October 1^st.  In general, economic conditions continued to deteriorate in Lawrence, though unemployment rates held steady and home sale prices showed a modest increase. A particular focus in this report was on job growth by industry. The Economic Barometer finds that job losses in 2008 were concentrated in the retail, tourism, and food service industries. These industries made up almost two-thirds of the job losses last year. While large layoffs at construction and manufacturing firms are easier to see, job losses in these two industries accounted for less than a quarter of the total in 2008.

The Barometer Report also compared performance by industry locally versus the state and finds that prior to the recession in 2008, job growth was low not only here but throughout Kansas. Lawrence and Douglas County performed slightly worse than the state overall because of some lower-than-average job gains in high growth industries such as Health Care and Administrative Services, and higher-than-average job losses in struggling industries like Manufacturing and Retail Trade. The attached chart provides the economic performance by industry in Lawrence and Douglas County for the decade, as well as over the last year (the industries are ordered from the highest growth rate this decade to the lowest).

H1N1/Seasonal Flu Information

The City of Lawrence is actively working with the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department to disseminate information to the public regarding the seasonal flu and H1N1.  The Health Department has made several important announcements in the past week regarding H1N1 flu shot clinics and a town hall meeting is planned for Thursday, October 15^th at 7:00 p.m. at the Community Health Facility.  Egov Coordinator Eric Gruber created a web page (http://www.lawrenceks.org/H1N1) for citizens to access current information from the CDC, KDHE and Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department regarding flu shot clinics, flu prevention and community education.

23^rd Street mill and overlay completed

The 2009 KLINK mill and overlay of 23^rd Street from Ousdahl to Barker was completed three days ahead of schedule, thanks to overnight work on a fourteen day project schedule. The contractor was Bettis Asphalt and Construction with a total project cost of $556,399.25, with KDOT providing $200,000. See attached photos.